Baku Baku

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Who would have thought being a fricking zoo keeper would be so addictive?

By Levi Buchanan

Sega's equally beloved and doomed Saturn hosted its fair share of puzzlers, from the umpteenth version of Tetris to Capcom's insane Super Puzzle Fighter. Sega wanted to get in on the act with its own brain-buster, but with Columns a bust, they turned to a little zoo-themed puzzle game named Baku Baku. Despite its crazy, addictive game play, it went equally nowhere, further proof that sometimes, the customer is indeed wrong.

Features:

Classic Saturn puzzler game play

Play versus the computer

Password save

Three difficulty levels

Baku Baku puts you in the role of zoo keeper, tasked with feeding a stampede of wildlife on the loose. The way you tame these savage beasts is very simple, match each animal with its preferred noshing. Cuddly pandas enjoy bamboo, rabbits must munch carrots, monkeys crave bananas, and dogs (what zoo has dogs?) love dem bones.

Blocks of two fall from the top of the screen, containing either animals or food, or a combination of both. Using your little touchpad, you must steer and rotate these blocks before locking them into place. An animal will immediately chow down when the right kibble is placed adjacent to it, even if it's just one food block. However, to score big in Baku Baku, it's best to wait until you have a plethora of bamboo bunched together before unleashing the panda's feeding frenzy.

Combos are the key to winning. Carefully orchestrated chain reactions, where launching a bunny into a pile of carrots will free a dog to inhale bones, which in turn gets a monkey goin' bananas on his, well, bananas, are the only way to send your opponent into early zookeeper retirement. Should you manage a biggity combo, a huge collection of extra blocks will be unceremoniously dumped on your opponent. Know that the computer is well equipped to do the same to you, and often is able to set off a massive chain reaction at the most inopportune moment for you.

The pacing of celly Baku Baku is even faster than the old Saturn version, as the screen is much smaller, but the blocks drop just as fast. Baku Baku quickly becomes a harried game of timing and strategy, as you desperate try to assemble combos without inadvertently filling up your column. Control is somewhat of an issue here, because the pieces start dropping faster than you can manage with that little pad or joystick, once this happens, Baku Baku seems to become a game of luck.

Visually, Baku Baku looks quite nice. Crazy colorful, with nicely-animated animal heads falling from the heavens at record rate--without blur--makes this beastly puzzler a real looker. Cut scenes unspool between matches, as contenders step up to the plate. Sadly, though, this seems to have left zero room for audio, cause this is quietest zoo you'll ever visit.

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The Verdict

I can remember playing Baku Baku at the very first E3 I went to. Despite the presence of NiGHTS three kiosks down and Panzer Zwei around the corner, I chose to monopolize Sega's clever puzzler. I was an instant junkie, and when it came out later that year, I enjoyed many, many heated matches with friends lasting until 5AM. This cellphone version is just as deliriously fun, and even though I cannot compete with another person, the wily computer is a decent sub. Download it now, but beware. Baku will inspire cursing that would make the Diceman blush.